Councils accuse territory government of overt racism

Yahoo

4 days ago

A territory government has been accused of overt racism and promoting policies that harm Indigenous people.
Aboriginal land councils have taken aim at the Northern Territory government, saying it has failed to work with them to reduce crime and boost economic development.
But NT Aboriginal Affairs Minister Steve Edgington has refuted the claims, saying the government was working towards empowering Indigenous communities.
After a two-day meeting in Darwin, the four NT land councils have urged the Country Liberal Party government to stop ignoring them and come to the table to address key issues.
They include growing Indigenous incarceration rates and improved economic opportunities to benefit Aboriginal communities.
Northern Land Council chair Matthew Ryan told reporters outside the NT parliament on Thursday there was overt racism in government policies.
"Let me be very honest - there is, no buts about it," he said.
"Unfortunately, it's still happening. We want to eliminate that, we want a genuine partnership ... at the moment there's none."
He said Aboriginal people wanted to be part of the territory's economic development but it was "appalling" government ministers were failing to work with or listen to the land councils to promote that.
Since coming to power on an anti-crime platform in 2024, the government has toughened bail laws and provided hundreds of new prison beds as more Aboriginal youths are locked up.
It has also lowered the age of criminal responsibility from 12 to 10 years.
Mr Ryan said the law and order funding would be better spent on providing programs to keep Aboriginal youths out of jail.
He said the land councils were also united in wanting to work with the NT police commissioner to address racism within the force.
Central Land Council deputy chair Barbara Shaw said racism against Aboriginal people began when the ships arrived in 1788 "but we're still standing here today".
"If the government would only listen to us and work with us in genuine partnership in tackling crime in the Northern Territory, we wouldn't be stacking and racking in our prisons," she said.
Ms Shaw said the government should listen to the elders to take children back onto Country to be with family and keep them out of jail.
Mr Edgington said the government was working with the four land councils and other Indigenous bodies on Closing the Gap initiatives.
"We are also working in partnership with Aboriginal people to empower communities that want a greater say," he said.
Mr Edgington said the NT and federal governments were making major investments in remote communities including building new homes and boosting health and other critical services.
However, an Aboriginal justice agency has called for federal funding for remote policing and other justice operations to be suspended until the NT government changes its hardline approach to crime.
North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency acting CEO Anthony Beven said the Commonwealth should put conditions on the table to say "we shouldn't be locking young kids up".
NT Attorney-General Marie-Clare Boothby said Mr Beven's funding suspension demand was "utterly absurd".